An effort in f a c i l i t a t i o n

15 Concessions That Will Make You Happy

بسم الله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله

I liked the content when I received an email from someone I know. This actually was the gist of the talk given by Br. A.W. Sadathullah Khan of Discover Yourself fame. The learned brother is Editor of Islamic Voice and an active motivational speaker and mentor in the contemporary Muslim world.

Sharing here for the benefit and happiness of one and all 🙂

This is not just an happiness prescription but in fact a spring board to Personality Development. Read on inshaaAllah.

​I​f we take a good look at ourselves, we’ll discover that our lives are lead by many factors that create a great deal of tension, pain, and suffering within us. Instead of letting go of these things and allowing ourselves to feel free, we cling to them zealously, confident that they are our fortune. No more! From now on, we will give up on things that no longer serve us and adopt a change.

1. Give up the need to always be right

Many of us don’t tolerate the idea that we’re wrong. We want to always be right and for us, we are always right, even at the cost of ending great relationships or causing pain and stress to ourselves and others. It’s just not worth it! Whenever you feel the need to jump into an argument ask yourself: “Is my ego really so big?”, “Do I prefer to be right or would I rather be nice?”

2. Give up the need for control

Be willing to give up the need to always be in control of what is happening to you and your surroundings – situations, events, people, and circumstances. Whether the people around you are loved ones or just strangers on the street – let them be. Let the world catch its trouble just as it is, and you’ll see how much better you’ll feel. Just remember: “The world is vanquished by those who let it be, but when you try and try, the world will always be invincible.”

3. Give up blame

Give up your need to blame others for what you have or do not have, what you feel or do not feel. Stop wasting energy and take responsibility for your life.

4. Give up defeatism

So many people hurt and cripple themselves because of negative thinking and a defeatist perception of themselves. Don’t believe everything your brain tells you, especially if it’s negative. You’re better than that! Eckhart Tolle once said, “The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.”

5. Give up limiting beliefs

Give up the limitations of ‘can or cannot’ of ‘possible or impossible’. From now on you won’t let limiting beliefs keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly high! Elly Roselle once said: “A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind.”

6. Give up the complaints

Give up the constant need to complain about all the things, people, situations, events, and circumstances that make you feel unhappy and depressed. No one can make you sad and no situation can make you unhappy unless you allow it. It isn’t the situation that triggers these emotions, but your choice of how to look at things. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

7. Give up the luxury of criticism

Give up the need to criticize things, events, and people who are different from you. We are all different, but similar in one thing: we want to be happy, loving, loved and understood. Do not judge the means others adopt on their way to achieving this goal.

8. Give up the need to impress others

Stop trying to be something you are not, just to please others. It doesn’t work that way. Once you stop trying to be someone else, once you remove the mask and start being your “true self,” people will be attracted to you, effortlessly.

9. Give up resistance to change

Change is good. Change helps us move from point to point. Change helps improve your life and that of those around you. Adopt change and don’t oppose it. Joseph Campbell said: “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.”

10. Give up labels

Stop labeling things, people and events that you don’t understand or that seem strange to you. Try to open your mind, step by step. Minds work only when they are open. Wayne Dyer said: “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something that you don’t know anything about.”

11. Give up your fears

Fear is only an illusion, it does not exist, we create it. It’s all in our minds. Fix what you feel inside and things on the outside will work out on their own. Franklin Roosevelt said: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

12. Give up the excuses

Pack all the excuses in a box and send them away, because today you have no need for them. Many times we limit ourselves to our excuses. Instead of growing and improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck in our own lies and make excuse after excuse. In the end, 99.9% of these excuses are not real.

13. Give up the past

This is difficult, especially when the past looks much better than the present and the future looks scary. But keep in mind that the current moment is all you need and everything you will ever need. Don’t forget that the past you miss so much is the one you ignored when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life – after all, life is a journey, not a destination. Adopt a clear vision for the future, but don’t forget to be present here in the Now.

14. Give up attachments

For many, this concept is hard to understand, but with time, practice, sincerity and awareness it will become obvious. Make a distinction between the things you love and the things you stick to. These are two different things – love comes from a pure place, clinging comes from a place of fear. Once you have detached yourself you can be peaceful and patient.

15. Give up the need to meet the expectations of others

Too many people live a life that is not theirs. They live their lives according to what others think is good and right for them; According to what their parents say, their company dictates, their community members expect and the government determines. The culture in which we live paves a “norm” that causes us to ignore our inner voice and lose control. Over time, we forget what makes us happy and what we want.Don’t let distractions divert you from the path you are paving.

Baarakallaah Feekum.

Sal lal laahu ala Muhammad, Sal lal laahu alaihi wa Sallam

Sharing will fetch You high rewards from the Lord of the worlds, InShaaAllah...